The Moving Wall, a half-size replica of the Washington, D.C., Vietnam Veterans Memorial will make its only New Jersey stop in Garfield.

The Wall has been touring the country for more than 30 years and will arrive with a motorcycle escort Thursday morning to Columbus Park, where it will remain until Sunday.

Garfield native Marinus Camiscioli said he will be at the memorial.

Drafted when he was 20 years old in May 1965, Camiscioli returned from Vietnam, but his brother-in-law Joseph Morriggi and 10 others from Garfield did not. The 11 will be honored at the moving memorial.

Joseph Morriggi(Photo: Courtesy of the VFW)

The memorial is a "really good" idea, Camiscioli said, albeit "a little late in coming."

Marie Marks, chairwoman of the Moving Wall Committee and Garfield's events planning committee, had heard about the wall and wanted to bring it to the area.

“We got a grant through our Community Affairs division of the police department and thought it fit the Generations for Garfield initiative, which is how we try to get people out doing things together," Marks said.

Vietnam veteran John Devitt created the Wall that was built by veteran volunteers. It went on display for the first time in Tyler, Texas, in October 1984. Two structures of The Moving Wall now travel the USA from April through November, spending about a week at each site.

The Wall events

The pieces of the wall will be brought in on a truck with a motorcycle escort that will drive by the schools where students will be outside waving flags and cheering. It will then arrive at Columbus Field, where veterans will assemble the wall pieces, Marks said.

The Moving Wall.(Photo: Courtesy of The Moving Wall)

There will be an official opening ceremony Thursday night.

The high school chorus and band, as well as the Lincoln School chorus will perform along with the color guard and bagpipers. A bell will be rung 11 times for each Garfield veteran who died in action in Vietnam, Marks said.

"We are also hoping for a military helicopter flyover as well," she said.

The wall is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day, but veterans can visit 24 hours a day. The mobile unit for the Veterans Affairs Center of Fort Lee will be on hand to give out information on assistance with benefits and counseling.

Garfield's own

Joseph Morriggi, 20 killed July 13, 1969;

John Paul Barsch, 24, killed Dec. 27, 1967;

Craig Jesse Devore, 20, killed July 8, 1968;

Tyrone Hill, 19, killed May 12, 1968;

Joseph Stephen Lafaso, 23, killed Nov. 17, 1965;

Anthony Manganello Jr., 21, killed Aug. 28, 1968;

Kenneth Francis Schorndorf, 21, killed April 2, 1968;

Mark John Stephanac, 22, died from wounds Sept. 14, 1969;

William Sipos, 25;

Vincent Weedo, 20;

Anthony Tenkza, 42.

These deaths linger with family and friends, Camiscioli said.

“The fellows I knew that were killed while I was over there, we felt bad about that for a few weeks,” Camiscioli said. “But I was home and a veteran already when Joey was killed. It was just devastating. If it was one of your buddies you felt it for a while, but for your family it lasts a lifetime.”

Camiscioli's story

Drafted May 1965 and sent to Fort Dix for basic training, Camiscioli's tour was to spend 18 months at Fort Wainwright near Fairbanks, Alaska. He didn't make it there.

“It was so cold and dark all the time so when they came looking for volunteers to send elsewhere, I put my first choice as Germany and my second as Vietnam,” Camiscioli said. “I ended up in Vietnam so I guess that was my fault. I wanted my John Wayne moment, going off to war.”

At the time, the government wasn’t looking to win the war, Camiscioli said, before going on to say that “people were risking their lives but they were just worried about the body count.”

When he shipped out, there was not much anti-war sentiment, Camiscioli said, but by the time Morrigi went, it was worse.

“If you were for it, you were for it but if you were against it you beat it to Canada,” Camiscioli said. “I regret not having Joey do that. In retrospect I think about that. You can’t know what would have happened, though.”

History lesson

Marks turned the VFW into a museum where visitors can listen to interviews conducted by high school students with Vietnam veterans from Garfield and families of those killed in action.

Senior Victoria Drzymala said he learned a lot about what veterans have gone through by working on the project.

“It was painful for these men in every sense because the country had betrayed them so it was hard to be loyal,” Dryzmala said. “I have respect for veterans and really think that we should talk to them and let them share their experience so we can consider what they’ve gone through.”

Classmate Freddy Suarez agreed.

“I feel like people overlook the effect the war had on these soldiers and this assignment helped me to understand that,” Suarez said. “It stressed the importance of taking care of veterans and I learned about their varying experiences.”

Their teacher Brian Cameron said the chance to talk to these real people who knew Garfield and the area made history more accessible.

“It’s hard to personalize history but everyone was able to see a personal side of this,” Cameron said. “They saw who these people were and since they grew up in Garfield it is a way for people to understand and connect to what they have to say.”

Camiscioli thinks the school program and the Moving Wall are beneficial to the community because people should “know what it’s all about and the price people paid for freedom.”